The outer areas of shopping malls or vacant commercial street squares are also places where business opportunities can arise. However, many people do not know how to utilize these areas of a certain size, which is a pity. As a dinosaur-themed products manufacturer, we have also interacted with many clients who operate in these areas and have summarized some experiences that can help expand business opportunities for these areas.

If you follow the experience shared below and combine it with your actual situation, it is possible to turn these areas into continuously profitable places.

QUICK FACTS:

#1. Make a budget
#2. Plan an appropriate area (based on the budget)
#3. Plan the placement locations of various interactive fun equipments
#4. Put into action to purchase equipments / facilities
#5. The Four Most Profitable Popular Equipments / Facilities
#6. Open a milk tea shop or pop coffee shop, or snack shop

1. Make a budget

To create a good touring experience and business opportunities around the mall exterior or square, you first need to come up with a reasonable budget! This budget should cover what kind of facilities and decorative constructions to purchase. Every penny should be spent wisely. The specific budget should be determined based on the area you want to build, usually ranging from 50,000 to 200,000 US dollars.

Budget plan:

• Need to purchase electronic facilities / equipments that can interact with visitors.

Claw machine
Game machine
Bubble machine
VR equipment experience room

• Can set up some interesting interactive obstacle facilities (such as a children’s version of the Spartan Challenge) to provide visitors with a fun interactive fun experience.
• Can also purchase some interesting or cartoon-style sculptures to enhance the atmosphere and encourage visitors to take photos.
• Climbing equipment can be set up on walls or in vacant areas.
• Can purchase some dinosaur riding equipments or animatronic dinosaurs.

NOTIFICATION: The above is an analysis based on our company’s many years of experience interacting with clients. If you have any better budget suggestions, please feel free to share them here.

2. Plan an appropriate area (based on the budget)

Once the budget is set, you need to allocate suitable areas and spaces based on the budget. For example, for a 5,000 square meters commercial outer square, you can designate 1/4 or 1/3 for renovation and decoration. Of course, if your budget is sufficient, you can redecorate the entire area.

Key points of planning areas:

• If this is your first time operating such a place, adopt a cautious approach. Start by allocating a relatively small area and try running it to gain more experience before expanding the business.
• The division of the area must be determined according to how many facilities your budget can afford. After arranging the facilities, this area will appear full and enjoyable, which will attract people to come and spend.
• The placement of facilities should be reasonable and have a certain spacing, and this area should not look too crowded, causing congestion of people. Ideally, visitors should have a normal 5-10 square meters of movement space.

3. Plan the placement locations of various interactive fun equipments

This is a crucial step. Properly placing interactive entertainment equipments, can effectively disperse the locations where visitors interact with, providing them with a good experience. Each interactive fun equipment can bring benefits to the operators.

Which interactive entertainment devices are attractive?

4. Put into action to purchase equipments / facilities

After making a good budget and planning the equipments / facilities, you can take action to purchase these devices. This should be the most crucial step! Acquiring them affects your wallet’s expenses and also determines whether the shopping mall exterior or commercial plaza can attract more people and generate business opportunities.

Key points for purchasing these devices:

• In a situation with sufficient budget, try to purchase all this equipments with the least expenditure.
• It is not recommended to purchase the cheapest equipments, as the quality is questionable. You can consider purchasing equipment that is in the medium to higher price range, as their manufacturers are relatively reliable and responsible.
• If have enough energy, please have each 2-3 equipment suppliers as alternatives in order to obtain products from the best manufacturer.
• If there is enough time, visit the manufacturer’s factory that equipments built occupies the most investment, inspect the production line, and negotiate the best price.

5. The Four Most Profitable Popular Equipments / Facilities

Based on our experience, we recommend the four most profitable popular devices / facilities. They are claw machine, game machine, VR equipment, and animatronic dinosaur riding car. Basically, visitors have to spend money to play them, and children, in particular, will repeatedly spend money to play.

In the mall’s exterior or square, as long as these four types of equipment are placed, profits can be seen quickly.

6. Open a milk tea shop or pop coffee shop, or snack shop

Opening a milk tea shop or pop coffee shop, or snack shop on the outskirts of a shopping mall or in the plaza is a way to generate additional rental income from users. Especially the currently most popular milk tea shops, such as MIXUE, HEYTEA, and CHAGEE. These milk tea shops can sell several hundred cups a day, and during holidays, sales can even double or triple. As long as there is foot traffic in the mall, it is definitely possible to open a milk tea shop, snack shop, or coffee shop to increase rental income.

Recommended most popular milk tea shops:

MIXUE
HEYTEA
CHAGEE
ChaPanda

Recommended most popular pop coffee shops:

Luckin Coffee
Cotti Coffee

Why are the above brands recommended?

• These brands focus on fast fashion and occupy a small area, which is conducive to quickly establishing ownership through transfer, as well as helping venue operators enhance brand effect and increase foot traffic.
• These brands are the most popular in China and also have mature logistics management systems and operators overseas, making them trustworthy.
• These brands are seen as symbols of popularity in the minds of consumers, and once they are established in a certain place, the flow of people in the entire area will quickly be driven.

Conclusion

The above six points are great ways to create a popular shopping mall exterior or commercial street square! Operators who are interested in running these venues are advised to read carefully. It will surely drive foot traffic and enhance the commercial brand.